This invention relates to bow-mounted arrow quivers and, more particularly, to the arrowhead-receiving housings (i.e., broadhead shields) and arrow-retaining elements used in these quivers.
An arrowhead-receiving shield or housing typically comprises a molded cup-like receptacle which includes an arrowhead or tip retainer at its base or closed end. Often, this is simply a thick layer of polymeric foam into which the arrowheads may be partially embedded by pushing them into such placement A more refined such arrowhead retainer comprises a molded plastic wall or other such member which has a plurality of tip-receiving bore structures with radially-directed slot formations extending therefrom for receiving and retaining the arrowhead point and blades. One such device is shown in the present inventor""s prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,496, which discloses a structure that is adapted to accept a variety of arrowheads, including not only arrowheads having a plain pointed tip but also a variety of commonly-available broadheads as well. However, the arrowhead retainer of the ""496 patent, as well as those of all other commercially available arrowhead shields, is not adapted to accept the movable-blade xe2x80x9cmechanical broadheadxe2x80x9d arrows which have recently come into use, which have pivotally mounted blades that are normally closed and lie along the shaft of the broadhead but spring open upon impact to provide radially extending cutting edges. Presently, there are no known bow quivers that are designed to accept these more complex arrowheads, and certainly none which will accept the wide variety of different kinds of broadheads being produced, including both standard and xe2x80x9cmechanical broadheads.xe2x80x9d
One problem associated with the arrowhead-receiving broadhead shields or housings of currently available quivers is that they have no internal structure for receiving and retaining mechanical broadheads, or for doing so in a way which will not jamb or release their movable blades. Mechanical broadheads have too little tip exposure when the blades are in the closed position to penetrate into the foam or plastic liners or tip retainers of known broadhead shields in a manner which will immobilize the broadheads from movement. Consequently, mechanical broadheads are likely to come loose from such tip retainers and rattle within the shield. This becomes an especially significant problem with mechanical broadheads because, if they are loose within the broadhead shield, the mechanical broadheads may be inadvertently released and spring outward. When the blades of mechanical broadheads are in their closed position, some of them are held closed by friction and others by small rubber bands or O-rings. In operation, these broadheads spring open under extremely light pressure and practically anything contacting them will cause them to open prematurely. When used with currently available quivers, the mechanical broadheads are likely to contact some part of the interior of the arrowhead shield, such as the plastic liner wall, foam bedding, or other arrows, etc. If this occurs, and, as a result, the blades of the mechanical broadheads inadvertently open, they will noisily clatter around inside the shield, are likely to become damaged, and in any event cannot thereafter be properly shot until carefully closed once again.
To avoid these problems, the field of quivers and arrowhead shields is in need of an improved design which can accommodate various types of broadhead arrows, mechanical or otherwise, and which can hold the arrows securely when stored, thus minimizing the chance that the arrowheads will come in contact with other arrows or with the interior of the housing.
The arrowhead-receiving housing or xe2x80x9cbroadhead shieldxe2x80x9d and associated arrow retaining means of the instant invention is designed to accommodate any of a multitude of currently available broadhead arrows. Unlike the analogous parts of currently known quivers, the components of the instant invention securely retain all types of arrows, including those having to mechanical broadheads, and substantially eliminate the chance that arrows with mechanical broadheads disposed therein will inadvertently activate as a result of random jostling, etc. Further, the several embodiments of the invention are capable of storing a plurality of different kinds of broadhead-tipped arrows, which may be of varying shape and size.
To achieve these and other aspects of the invention, the quiver of a first embodiment includes a broadhead shield or housing that comprises a molded cup-shaped portion open at one end and a molded liner secured therein for receiving and retaining the arrowheads. The molded liner has a perimeter wall and a base, wherein the base has at least one receptacle for receiving a broadhead. The receptacles are molded integrally with the base section and have a central bore for receiving the shaft of a broadhead, as well as a plurality of slot arms for receiving the blades of a broadhead, including, for instance, the closed blades of a mechanical broadhead. The receptacles of this first embodiment are designed to accommodate broadheads having either two or three blades, and are positioned so as to maximize the number of arrows that may be stored in the housing.
A second embodiment of the instant invention includes an arrowhead-receiving shield designed to accommodate a variety of different known broadhead-type arrows. This shield includes a molded cup-shaped housing which is open at one end for receiving arrowheads, and has a molded liner attached therein which has openings or recesses for receiving and stabilizing the tips of arrows to be stored. Preferably, the molded liner has a generally flat bottom wall that is generally parallel to the open end of the housing and includes at least one boss with a socket-like recess therein for receiving and engaging the tip of a broadhead, which may be either of a conventional fixed-blade or xe2x80x9cmechanicalxe2x80x9d moving-blade type. Further, the housing preferably contains a railing-like shaft retainer that is secured to the liner and defines a series of notches to grip the shafts of the arrows held thereby so the arrow will be stabilized within the housing regardless of the amount of jostling to which it is subjected. The retainer grips the shaft of the arrow a short distance behind the broadhead blades, so that the width, length, number of blades, and the shape of the broadhead are irrelevant. The retainer further acts to guide the arrowhead tips into (and out of) the liner recesses, thus further minimizing the chance that a mechanical broadhead will be inadvertently activated.
Both the first and second embodiments of the invention referred to above contemplate use of the noted arrowhead shields or housings and their associated arrow-retaining and positioning components in an overall quiver structure which includes an elongated main frame or support member which is mountable on and extends along the handle-riser part of an archery bow to mount the quiver itself thereupon, in a generally known manner, such frame member having an arrow-shaft retainer or holder secured thereto at a point spaced from the arrowhead shield. The invention is not limited to such an overall structure, however, and may also be implemented by using a pair of separate bow-mounted components, without an interconnecting main frame member, as shown in some of the accompanying figures of the drawings.
These and other features, advantages, and objects of the present invention will be further understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art by reference to the following specification, claims, and appended drawings.